Garment and method of making



' Aug. 11, 1959 Filed Jan. 14, 1957 A. M. HARMS GARMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug.11, 1959 A. M. HARMS 2,893,754

GARMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING I Filed Jan. 14. 1957 2 Sheets-Shet 2 I l? I 72lfNVE TOR BY I ATTORNEY-S United States Patent GARNIENT AND METHOD OF MAKING Arthur M. Harms, Reading, Pa., assignor to Harms Hosiery Co., Inc., Reading, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application January 14, 1957, Serial No. 633,961 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-177) This invention relates to garments which are intended to fit relatively snugly and conform rather closely to the contours and figure of the wearer, such for example as certain types of underwear, bathing suits and tights or the like. 'It is concerned especially with undergarments having leg openings such as womens or childrens panties or mens drawers and the present disclosure will be directed to an embodiment of this kind although it is to be understood that the terms employed in describing and claiming the invention are to be considered as including all reasonable equivalents which employ the features of the invention and attain its objectives.

The principal objects of the invention are the followmg:

-(l) To provide a garment of the general character described which is better fitting and appearing and more comfortable to wear than garments heretofore familiar in the art;

(2) To provide a garment which can be manufactured in quantity more simply, less expensively and with greater rapidity;

(3) To provide a garment and a method of making it which completely eliminates the need for elastic rubber bands or tubing around the leg openings which bands or tubing as heretofore employed are generally uncomfortable in the seat or in the crotch;

(4) To provide a garment which has greater flexibility and elasticity than previous garments especially in regions where this quality is particularly desirable;

(5) To provide a garment having the characteristics specified which has improved selvage. edges and which can be made without cutting the material in order to shape it and, therefore, without danger of dropping stitches and without loss of any yarn or material whatsoever;

(6) To provide a garment having smooth selvage edges which are substantially free of any rolling tendency in the back of the leg opening, and therefore, more comfortable to wear;

(7) To provide a garment and a method of making it which make possible a continuous knitting procedure whereby any number of garments as may be desired may be produced successively by the knitting machine without pressing the individual garments oif the machine which is a definite advantage in the saving of time and makes possible a greater volume of production by each machine operator. In furtherance of this objective I provide for the inclusion of a course of yarn that can be pulled or drawn in order to separate each individual garment from the adjacent garments. This makes possible continuous operation with a minimum of interruption to production schedules.

'How the foregoing together with such other objectives as may appear hereinafter or are incident to my invention are attained will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the garment as it comes from the knitting machine at which time it is in the form of a blank or flat piece of fabric having a front panel, a back panel and an intermediate crotch panel;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the finished garment; and

Fig. 3 is a partial view after the manner of Fig. 1 but illustrating a modified back panel.

The garment of my invention is a full-fashioned garment and must be made on a machine which is designed for this type of knitting. Actually, in my development work I employed a machine for knitting full-fashioned stockings and modified it as required to produce the garment of my invention.

For reasons which will be explained more fully below I prefer to start the knitting at the upper edge 4 of the waist band of the back panel 5. By way of example the waist band is begun approximately one inch in on both sides of the head of the machine following which there is a widening as at 6 to the full width of the head in order to follow the contour of the body and provide the necessary fullness across the hips and buttocks as will further appear. In this connection it should be realized, of course, that there'is nothing limiting in the starting distance from the sides because it can be varied to suit the demands of the particular garment to be manufactured. For instance, in larger or smaller sizes the start of edge 4 can be made at a greater or less distance from the sides of the head as may be suitable. Furthermore the total number of stitches in the garment can be varied to control the fit and size of the finished garment.

Knitting proceeds to the point 7 which represents the full width of the back panel 5, and by way of example only, it can be assumed that the width along the edge 4 is 13 inches and that 364 needles on the head were employed in producing the same. It can also be assumed by way of example that, at the point 7, the width of the knitted material is 15 inches and that 420 needles are then in service.

Knitting then continues at the full width of the head down to the point 8 which marks the beginning of the leg opening. (It should be understood that the two edges of the knitted pieces are identical although reversed.) At this point the back panel of the garment is narrowedin as at 9 until it reaches the point 10 which marks the beginning of what is known as the crotch panel 11. The number of needles employed in the crotch panel will vary depending upon the size of the garment being made and the size of the leg opening desired.

The sides of the crotch panel are then knitted straight down, as shown, to the point 12 where a short widened section 13 begins which is introduced to yield a better fitting, more properly contoured garment as well as to provide slightly greater coverage for the front portion of the body.

(It should be understood at this point that after completion of the knitting operation the front and the back panels are folded around on the crotch panel to oppose each other, as will further appear.)

The widening along 13 is continued to a point 14 as maybe desired for the particular garment being made and here a band of picoting-15 is introduced which gives the garment additional elasticity and makes it more comfortable around the leg. The picoting introduces a straight-out section 16 which extends from the crotch panel to the outer edge 17 of the front panel 18. The

end certain of the points are removed from the picot bar in the central portion between the regions marked 15a and 15b. This permits knitting of solid fabric through the center of the garment which is important for comfort.

I should like to point out that it is not always necessary to use the short widened section 13 described just above. Instead the crotch section 11 may be continued straight down to the point where it is desired to introduce the picot section 15. This would be true especially of mens garments.

The sides 17 of the front panel 18 are then continued straight to the point 19 which corresponds to the point 7 on the back panel following which a narrowing-in takes place along the edge 20 to the point 21 which marks the upper edge of the waist band of the front panel, the narrowing-in being such as to follow or conform to the widening along the edge 6 and the distance between 19 and 21 being equal to the distance between 4 and 7.

When knitting is completed along the edge 21 a removable course is introduced in a manner well understood in this art in order to provide a yarn or thread which can be pulled or drawn and thereby separate the garment which has just been completed from the garment which follows. This removable course is shown in dotted lines at 22 at the end of the garment which has just been described and also at the beginning because the beginning marks the end of the previous garment.

The description so far given outlines the basic procedure but does not include certain additional features which will now be explained. In the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 a narrow panel which I will refer to generally as 23 is knitted along the sides of the leg openings. This is made of a stretchable type of yarn and its use in the region indicated gives a better fit and additional elasticity to the leg opening. It may begin a short distance upward along the side of the back panel as at the point 231; and it is continued down to and along the narrowing-in portion 9, the crotch portion 11 and the picoted section to terminate preferably at the side 17 of the front panel. It is introduced by employing a split knitting process which is familiar to the art but, insofar as I am aware, has'never been used in the construction of a full-fashioned garment of the character disclosed herein.

There is a slight degree of overlap in the region 23b between the yarn of the main body portion of the garment and the stretchable type yarn which forms the panel 23. The overlap need not be much but some overlap is advisable rather than attempting to butt the two types of material together at this point.

Another feature which is important is as follows. In order to secure the desired fullness and elasticity for the leg openings especially at the back and along the crotch I remove a number of the narrowing points where the panel 23 is being formed. However, I do not remove them immediately along the edge, say in the region marked 23c because at this point I wish to maintain firmness and smoothness. They are removed inwardly of this region in the area marked 23d and the number retained along the edge before some are removed may be any reasonable number, say for example 2, 4 or 6. In the region 23d I prefer to remove every other point for the width of the narrowing finger and at least sufficient to form the remaining width of the panel 23. However, it should be realized that this feature introduced by removing every other point could be extended over into the main body of the fabric for various widths depending upon the style and preference desired. While difficult to show in the drawing I have attempted to indicate these various regions which form a part of the panel 23 by the different types of shading 23b, 23c and 23d.

The composite type of knitting, as it may be termed, which has just been described, is continued along the narrowed-in section 9, the crotch section 11 and the widened section 13 to the edge of the straight portion 16.

In the region of the crotch and seat portions a reinforcement may be introduced if desired in the general shape of the area marked 24 although when this is done, it should not be wide enough to reach the stretch panel 23 but a space should intervene as indicated on the drawing because to reinforce it-all the way over would defeat the purpose of using the stretch edge panel, namely, it would impair the elasticity which is introduced by this panel 23.

In the modification of Fig. 3 the same general plan is employed especially insofar as the contour knitting is concerned. However, in this embodiment the narrow, stretch type side panels are continued along the entire length of the back panel 5 as indicated at 23e. In some sizes and for some purpose this may be desirable because it increases the elasticity of the garment across the back. However, it is not always necessary to employ this. Also, in this modification, the reinforcement 24 is omitted.

In the light of the foregoing description it will now be obvious that when the knitting operation has been completed after the manner described, the front and back panels are folded around on the crotch panel to oppose each other and the adjacent edge of the front and back panels are then stitched together to form the completed garment as shown in Figure 2.

As indicated above, the knitting is preferably begun at the back because the back has to be somewhat fuller or larger than the front and when the leg openings are approached and formed they can be narrowed-in from the back whereas if the garment were made by first knitting the front panel, it would, of course, be necessary to proceed by a widening procedure in forming the back panel. This would produce a garment which would not be quite as comfortable because widening has a tendency to produce a fabric which rolls somewhat too markedly and has somewhat larger openings whereas narrowing-in tends to, produce a closer, flatter, non-rolling selvage which makes for greater comfort and a nicer fit.

I should also like to point out that straight knitting, as is familiar to those skilled in the art, tends to give a very slight edge roll but this is quite a different thing from the more pronounced roll of a widening procedure and actually is an element in the comfort of the garment as devised.

The use of a picot bar to form the straight portion 15-16 yields three advantages namely, it prevents running, increases the degree of elasticity and enables the garment to be formed straight out at this point for better shape and fit at the front.

It will now be seen that my invention yields a genuinely full-fashioned undergarment, namely, a garment where the required fullness and desired contour is actually knit into the garment rather than by cutting, fitting and shaping it in any other manner. This makes for greater comfort and avoids wastage of yarn or material. Furthermore, this procedure completely avoids the necessity for time consuming cutting, fitting and binding operations which is a distinct advantage in large scale production operations.

It will be obvious, of course, that the body of the garment can be knit of any type of fiber desired, i.e., cotton, rayon, silk, nylon or any combination of natural or synthetic fibers. The size of the garment can be controlled by the width of the head at the starting point and garments can be made for women, children and men. The operation of knitting is simple, inexpensive and expeditious.

It will be seen that my improved procedure involves a method of manufacturing a garment of the character described which consists essentially of the following steps, namely, knitting of the garment as a fiat blank on a machine designed for full-fashioned knitting. Preferably the garment is begun at the top of the waist of the back panel at whatever width may be desired for the particular size to be made, the knitting being widened from that point to the point 7 to provide the desired hip and buttocks size. The knitting is then continued straight on for the desired depth of the back and seat, whereupon narrowinginto the width of the crotch panel is performed. F ollowing this the knitting continues straight to form the crotch panel and then preferably, although not necessarily, a short widening is effected until the bottom of the front panel is reached. Here straight-out p-ieoting is introduced in the knitting operation to a width for the front panel which corresponds to the width of the back panel. The

-front panel is then continued straight to correspond to the height of the wide portion of the back whereupon narrowing-in is effected to correspond to the size of the waist at the point of beginning on the back. The flat blank is then removed from the knitting machine and the front and the back panels are folded around the crotch panel to oppose each other and the front and the back panels are finally secured together along their edges to complete the garment with the leg openings being defined by the narrowed-in portion 9, the crotch portion 11, the picoted straight out section and/or the widened section 13..

My improved method of knitting a garment of the character described, as will now be clear, yields a garment in which the back of the leg opening presents a flat smooth selvage edge which, in stretching, never tends to roll and for this reason is more comfortable than any other type of garment with which I am familiar. In addition the introduction of the picoted section which forms the front of the leg opening tends to yield a slight,

soft roll which also adds to the comfort of the wearer at this point. .Finally the straight knitted portion which forms the crotch panel also has a slight inner roll which increases the comfort of the wearer. I should also like to point out that my method of procedure, especially in sofar as the back of the leg openings is concerned, tends to increase the fullness of the seat asshown in the drawing at 25 and thereby adds to the comfort of the garment.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, an undergarment having leg openings, said garment being formed from a single, full-fashioned, knitted piece having a front panel, a back panel and an intermediate crotch panel, the front and back panels being folded around on the crotch panel to oppose each other and the adjacent edges of the front and back panels being stitched together, said back panel being knitted first and being narrowed-in at its sides to meet the crotch panel and said front panel being formed with a straight-out picoted section at each side ofthe crotch panel, the said straight-out picoted sections extending to the sides of the front panel, the said straightout sections and the said narrowed-in portions together with the crotch portion forming the leg openings, and a relatively narrow side'panel around the edge of each leg opening formed of a stretchable type yarn, there being a slight overlap of the stretchable type yarn with the yarn of the adjacent front, back and crotch portions.

2. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the crotch panel is widened slightly to merge into the adjacent straight picoted section of the front panel.

3. A garment according to claim 1 wherein a strip of each narrow side panel inwardly of the edge is knitted more loosely than the strip immediately along the edge.

4. As a new article of manufacture, an undergarment having leg openings, said garment being formed from a single full-fashioned knitted piece having a front panel, a back panel and an intermediate crotch panel, the front and back panels being formed with complementary narrowed waist portions and being folded around on the crotch panel to oppose each other and the adjacent edges of the front and back panels being stitched together, said back panel being formed with narrowed portions at its sides which merge into the crotch panel and said front panel being formed with a straight-out picoted section at each side of the crotch panel, the said picoted straight sections and the said narrowed portions which merge with the crotch panel together with the crotch panel itself forming the leg openings, and a relatively narrow side panel along the edge of the narrowed leg portions and along the edge of the picoted straight sections, said narrow side panels being formed of a stretchable type yarn,

and there being a slight overlap of the stretchable type I yarn with the yarn of the adjacent panel portions.

5. A garment according to claim 4 wherein the relatively narrow side panels are continued part way at least toward the waist along the sides of the back panel.

6. A garment according to claim 4 wherein the knitting begins at the upper edge of the waist portion of the back panel and terminates at the complementary upper edge of the waist portion of the front panel, whereby the narrowed leg portions of the back panel are formed as a narrowing-in.

7. A garment according to claim 4 wherein the relatively narrow side panels extend to the waist along the sides of the back panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,224,029 Berger Dec. 3, 1940 2,285,012 Burkey June 2, 1942 2,469,134 Seiler May 3, 1949 2,511,720 Lacks June 13, 1950 2,706,389 Garrou et a1. Apr. 19, 1955 2,792,698 Hampp May 21, 1957 2,809,510 West Oct. 15, 1957 2,833,134 Gift May 6, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 701,060 France Jan. 5, 1931 

